The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

I was told by a friend that this was an absolute must-read, so of course I went straight to Waterstones - any excuse! Stieg Larsson's psychological thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was originally written in Swedish and translated into English by Reg Keeland. The novel is part of a trilogy entitled Millennium, and is followed by The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. The story begins in 2002 by introducing Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who has been convicted of libel and faces an upcoming three-month jail sentence, and has recently taken a step back from his job at a publication called Millennium.

Just as he has recently become unemployed, and endured a very public court case, he is contacted by wealthy industrialist Harald Vanger, who lives on the small and remote island of Hedeby, with an unusual job opportunity. When he goes to meet with Harald to discuss the task, he is asked to come and live on Hedeby Island for up to a year, and investigate the 40-year-old murder case of Harald's niece Harriet who disappeared mysteriously. The other inhabitants of the island are largely Harald's family, as well as a few other residents including a pastor and shopkeeper, and due to his extensive study into the disappearance and 40-year obsession with the case, Harald has deduced that she was murdered by someone who was on the island that day.

After hearing Harald's story and the vast amount of detail and investigation he has been consumed with for forty years, to no avail, Mikael agrees to take on the case, under the pretence that he has been employed to write a family history of the Vangers, to avoid drawing attention to his true agenda. At this point, I wondered where the novel's eponymous character would play into the storyline - we had already been introduced to her own narrative early on, but it didn't seem to connect with Mikael's story at this point. Lisbeth Salander, the character who the novel's name is based on, is a gothic investigative researcher and computer hacker, who lives a troubled life and has been victim of brutal rape (trigger warning - it's pretty horrific). 

The two central characters intertwine when Mikael needs the help of a skilled researcher in the investigation - he draws closer and closer to the truth of Harriet's disappearance and realises that he is on the trail a serial killer. The novel is pretty hefty, around 600 pages long, but completely and utterly gripping and absorbing. I've read a couple of thrillers recently and I'm really loving the genre, and Larsson's characterisation and scene-setting is just absolutely fantastic. You are provided with a map of the island and family tree at the beginning which is useful as there are so many elements to the story, and the novel twists and turns in shocking and clever ways which just make this a really addictive read! 

The novel is highly detailed and must have taken extensive research on Larsson's part - sadly, he didn't get to see its worldwide success as the novel was published posthumously in 2005. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, which I've heard is equally brilliant, and whilst I would give warning that there is extensive violence and brutality (particularly towards women), I also highly highly recommend this novel.